SAN BERNARDINO – The doors at the troubled Casa Ramona Academy will remain open, at least for now.

After listening to the pleas of parents and students on Tuesday evening, San Bernardino City Unified school board members decided to allow the charter school to continue operations, despite ongoing problems.

“While I wouldn’t allow my kids to go to Casa Ramona, that doesn’t mean I should be the one to shut down the school,” said school board President Danny Tillman. “It is obvious there are parents who still want their kids to go there despite all the problems.”

The academy will be looked at again in November when it submits its proposal to extend its charter. The district will make a determination before June 2012, when the school’s current charter expires, said Tillman.

At the meeting, attended by as many as 200 parents and students clad in blue shirts and waving flags promoting the school, district staff presented information on improvements the school has made and what still needs to be corrected.

Among the greatest concerns were the campus offering only one course with the University of California’s approval as a college preparatory class, communication with parents on college entrance requirements and students being given credit for classes in which they received failing grades.

Also of concern was that although 98percent of students at the school are identified as English learners, no instructional program for them is identified.

Most of the structural problems on campus have been fixed, according to the district staff report.

A financial audit of the school also showed no evidence of fraud and that the school is able to meet current and future financial obligations, district staff said.

Of greatest concern to the school board, particularly to Cal State San Bernardino professors Elsa Valdez and Barbara Flores, who believe the school’s charter should be revoked, were the lack of college preparatory classes.

“My concern is what will happen when this year’s graduating class tries to get into the UC or CSU systems,” said Valdez. “If I was a parent of a student at Casa Ramona I would be very concerned.”

Esther Estrada, the school’s director, was quick to come to the defense of the school, saying the process has been started with the University of California Office of the President, which reviews the courses.

“We are in the process to get the courses accepted and we already have six graduates who are attending your university, Dr. Valdez,” she said at the meeting.

In response to concerns about English learners, she said although there was not a separate program in place, a program serving English learners was imbedded in the school’s curriculum.

Casa Ramona opened to K-12 students for the 2007-08 school year, after the school district board approved its charter.

The school’s problems, which resulted in several parents pulling their students out in December, started last summer when the school moved from its site at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Community Center to portable classrooms on the Casa Ramona Community Center parking lot.

When students arrived at the new location in August they found no drinking fountains, no place to eat, potholes all over the campus and a new principal heading the middle and high schools.

The academy’s troubles escalated from there.

After students brought attention to Casa Ramona by staging a walkout on Sept. 21, district officials launched an investigation.

They found a lack of services including only one college-approved class for students in grades 9 to 12 and problems on the school grounds that resulted in a Dec. 9 notice from the school district requiring corrections be made.

The school’s response to the notice was discussed at Tuesday’s meeting.

Parent Antolin Gomez, who attended the meeting with his 9-year-old daughter, said he will continue to support Casa Ramona no matter what.

“There is a strong sense of community there and I feel my daughter gets the one-on-one attention she would not get in public school,” he said. “Myself and other parents are determined to make all the fixes required for our children’s education.”